Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Batter Pudding, Baked
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the flour and salt.
Make a hole in the center, break in the eggs, and stir, gradually mixing in the flour from the sides.
Add the milk gradually until a thick, smooth batter forms.
Beat the batter well for 10 minutes, then add the remaining milk.
Cover and let it stand for at least 1 hour.
Bake and serve
Preheat a pie dish with the dripping.
Give the batter another good beating before pouring it into the hot dish.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about 35 minutes.
Serve with sugar, butter, jam, or stewed fruit.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help it puff and set as it bakes.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the pudding as it bakes.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and makes the batter pourable, adding moisture to the baked pudding.
- Dripping
- Heats in the pan and adds fat that helps the batter brown and crisp at the edges.
The step that matters
Preheat the pie dish with the dripping. The batter must hit a very hot, fat-coated dish so it sizzles on contact and starts setting immediately, which helps it rise and form crisp edges instead of sinking and steaming.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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